Regents take up residency requirements

Posted: Monday, June 21, 2010

By BLAKE AUED

Amid an election-year furor over illegal immigration, a University System Board of Regents committee meets for the first time today to start work on tightening colleges and universities' residency policies.

Committee members will meet via conference call to talk about requiring more proof of Georgia residency to be eligible for in-state tuition.

A Mexican illegal immigrant raised in Georgia who paid in-state tuition at Kennesaw State University sparked the discussion, but regents spokesman John Millsaps said it won't be limited to illegal immigrants.

"It's going to be a broader look at the residency status for everyone," Millsaps said.

Meanwhile, the Board of Regents is under pressure from lawmakers to crack down on illegal immigrants. Fourteen state senators wrote the regents letters last week urging them to ban illegal immigrants from enrolling.

The senators' letter told the board it is violating state and federal law by allowing colleges and universities to admit illegal aliens.

But strict laws the state legislature passed in 2006 denying many government services to illegal immigrants exempted the regents, allowing the board to set its own policy.

Federal law lets states set their own rules regarding illegal immigrants attending college, Millsaps said. Ten states charge out-of-state tuition to illegal immigrants who live in-state, and one state - South Carolina - bars illegal immigrants from attending public colleges at all, he said.

The regents will leave it up to the legislature to decide whether illegal immigrants are eligible for higher education, Millsaps said.

"The tone seems to be that we don't want to get into the proper business of elected officials," he said.

The committee's recommendations are due by October, but could be ready as early as August, Millsaps said.

As the committee starts its work, individual institutions already are tweaking their procedures. At the University of Georgia, admissions officers request more information if an applicant raises concerns by failing to supply something, such as a Social Security number, UGA spokesman Tom Jackson said.

"We're not sure if we need to do more than what we're currently doing," Jackson told The Associated Press. "At this point, we're confident we're getting the job done."

Hispanic students at UGA say there are few, if any, illegal immigrants on campus.